Artist of the Week – The Away Days

In the past 18 months, the college-formed Istanbul indie dream rock band The Away Days have been on quite a whirlwind journey, performing alongside music giants like Pulp and Kaiser Chiefs (at the One Love Festival), as well as Mark Ronson and Sam Sparro (at and Adidas All Originals Party event), and Factory Floor at Newcomer’s Festival in Babylon, where they were hailed as a promising new young band. The band was also invited to perform on Okan Bayülgen’s Disco Kralı, Turkey’s most popular late night TV show watched by millions of viewers across the country.

For Disco Kralı broadcast, they performed their first single, “Dressing Room,” which was noticed by the U.K. Guardian, who mentioned The Away Days as a new band to watch. The well respected, long-running newspaper’s endorsement of the band elevated their profile in the U.K., and things really started to move fast for the pop rock quartet in a short period of time. Subsequently, The Away Days garnered praise and received support from Gary Powell of The Libertines, Ron Lewis of Sub Pop, and Simon Raymonde of Bella Union.

The band ultimately released their debut EP, How Did It All Start, last October, which was well-received overseas. Within weeks of the EP’s release, The Away Days were invited to perform at South By Southwest in Austin as part of the official lineup, an honor and opportunity that has served as a launch pad for hundreds, probably thousands, of artists over the past couple of decades. An invite to SXSW is a dream come true for any band looking for their big break, especially for an overseas band that wants to build a following in the United States. In fact, there are countless bands that have worked diligently for years with the hope of getting tapped to perform at SXSW because it is the world’s most celebrated, and all-encompassing, annual music bonanza; an event that can make or break a band’s career.

Currently, The Away Days are recording their debut full-length album under the direction of Brighton producer Jag Jago, who produced the latest album by The Maccabees, and has worked with artists like The Ghost Of A Thousand, Bastions and Your Demise, among others. On May 7th, The Away Days will headline The Garage in London. Band members include Oguzcan Ozen (guitars/vocals), Sezer Koc (lead guitar), Burak Serter (bass) and Berk Tekelioglu (drums). They are signed to Noiseist Productions.

In January, their newest single, “Galaxies,” was played on the high-profile KEXP Morning Show in Seattle (official music video above). The band said about the single: “It’s a deep song that makes us feel really lost. As the song comes to the end, it feels like we found our way. We made this in the basement, no sun, no light.”

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